LearnScope Start-up Workshop 4

Poison pills for your future online delivery

What have you disliked about courses you have attended????

LAOG (backward spells goal) ... therefore you are aiming for the opposite.

• lack of interaction
• being 'done to'
• poor preparation
• poor communication
• lack of context, higher order extension
• poor preparation and organisation
• timing and planning
• aimed at incorrect level - not valuing previous learning
• lack of knowledge or faciliation skills
• hindering educational progress
• using jargon
• does not fulfil aims

Theory and thoughts about online facilitation

Gilly Salmon's Model of e-Moderation

Stage 1 - make the classroom feel welcoming
Stage 2 - introduction and students meet each other (can use online forums)
Stage 3 - actively interacting with material
Stage 4 - higher order, do something with knowledge, groups generating new knowledge
Stage 5 - external, very high order skills

Online Facilitation: Stories from the field (Michael Coghlan)

• the teacher - centric model of teaching is out the window
• teacher is just ONE of the resources
• stage one and two of the Salmon's 5 step model are the hardest in an online environment
• 80% of students like to know information about the teacher and other students
• most classes get stuck at level 3 (ie, content, assignments etc)
• deep learning and analytical learning takes place in stages 4 and 5
• need to identify what level students are at and respond accordingly, ie, don't bombard them with information from a higher level and/or don't respond at a lower level to more advanced learners
• facilitator changes role during the learning, eg, goal setter, discriminator, host, pace setter, facilitator, mentor, provacateur, participant etc
• most important role - HOST - inviting people into your space and making them feel comfortable
• don't forget to use your telephone - more personal
• troubleshooting/conflict negotiation: private email? phone? public discussion? peer resolution?
• rate of response/level of involvement: respond with 24 hours unless otherwise specified, but establish ground rules upfront, eg, won't respond on weekend etc
• don't respond to everything - let the group take some responsibility (discuss upfront)
• appropriate ratio: about 1 message from lecturer for every 5 to 8 messages
• Modelling (behaviour) (1) summarising discussions (good brain work); teacher do initially then hand over to other students (2) communication skills - don't be patronising, teacher off centre stage, don't forget students bring knowledge (3) manner, attitude, humour - the affective domain: includes 'learner's values, beliefs, biases, emotions, and role expectations that may influence their disposition towards the learning environment - show you care
• let people know who you are
• engagement: motivate them, inspire them, annoy them, make them laugh, make them angry, but for goodness sake don't bore them! (Thiagi) http://thiagi.com/
• Positive comments Michael received: enthusiastic, sense of humour, thank you for your input into my life
• Email: michaelc@chariot.net.au
• Website: http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/
• Thank you very much Michael.

Online facilitation - giving it a go

We have the role of facilitating an online course for the next three weeks as well as participating in two other courses. I am part of a group with Sonya, Kristen and Sylvia and we are going to create an online course on "Bargains and Free Stuff on the internet" aiming to incorporate the theory from today. We elected Sonya as our leader and have decided to share facilitation of the course by each of us being responsible on different days, ie, Sylvia on Monday and Tuesday, Kristen on Wednesday and Thursday, Sonya on Friday and me on the weekend. We aim to provide responses to students within 24 hours, 7 days a week!

Moving into e-learning - implementing your idea

Everyone spent two minutes discussing their projects. Marlene used a powerpoint that represented us going up in a lift - it was very effective - once the lift opened everyone shut up straight away! :-) I was really impressed with the work everyone is doing. I hope we get the opportunity to see the projects along the way.

Reflection, questions & homework

1) Post up your REFLECTION of the 4th Workshop – how did you feel about it?
2) Post to the YOUR PROJECT thread – how’s it going? Where are you up to?
3) Post to the TEACHING ONLINE thread - let's talk about facilitating online!
4) Facilitate your online ‘course’…and participate in another 2.

All in all, another excellent afternoon!!!!!